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Deidra Finian
Deidra Finian was a Sinlarine necromancer, member of the Finian Clan and an excellent singer. She was an associate and lover of Thanatos Barca as well as the leader of a band of demon guardians which included Philos. She encountered the Dresdens while on a quest to retrieve information from Etheril on Thanatos's orders and got involved in a complex web of deception. Her stubbornness, code of honour and mistrust of the Dresdens eventually led to her death by Razravkar Dominus. She later returned as a spirit to aid the Dresdens, sacrificing herself to seal a demon portal and prevent Illunii from being invaded by the Eastern Horde. Since then her spirit has been stuck wandering in the Void and has occasionally lent her aid to various people albeit in a limited manner. Biography Early Years Youngest of the Finians Deidra was born into the Finian Clan, one of the Sinlarine tribes in Libaterra. Her clan had the ability to communicate with the dead, and they lived a wandering lifestyle although they returned to Reign annually to attend the Day of the Damned, a week-long festival which honoured the dead and promoted the Sinlarine way of life in a topsy-turvy way. She was the youngest member in her clan and was taken care of by her older siblings. She shared a close bond with her brother Corwin Finian. As she grew up, she came to learn of the Finians' mission which their ancestor Arlen Finian had begun. They had sworn by blood to aid their clan's patron, the kitsune Katsutoshi Kobayashi, locate and free his mate Haruko Mizushima, from the crystal where she had been imprisoned. Although it was a heavy burden, Deidra was used to the supernatural side of things due to being a ghost whisperer like her siblings, so she too dedicated herself to the task albeit in her own, rebellious way which the elders in the clan often weren't fond of. The wars that took place in Libaterra eventually took their toll, forcing the remaining Sinlarine to scatter. Deidra ended up living the life of poverty in the wilderness around Reign, her people's spiritual home. She constantly moved about while doing her best to stay hidden from people who might want to exploit her powers over the dead and learned the art of necromancy, choosing it over the shamanism which the rest of her siblings practiced. Although the family had arguments about Deidra's new path, they eventually came to accept the idea that she would forge her own path and aid the clan albeit under her terms. New Alliances Around the time of the Cataclysm, the Finians came upon four injured demons who had been washed ashore. Showing no fear, they nursed them back to health. These demons, particularly one named Philos, quickly grew fond of the Sinlarine, and both races shared stories of their lives and grew to understand and respect one another, a feat not often seen in interactions between humans and demons. Deidra taught the four demon brothers the art of necromancy and how important it was to keep the balance between life and death in check. The brothers embraced these new teachings, seeing the world in a new light as a result, and became Deidra's protectors, her guardians, to pay back their life debt. Because the outside world would be afraid of them in their true form, they took on the appearance of strong human warriors to keep suspicion at bay while they travelled with Deidra around Libaterra in search of answers. During these journeys to find ancient necromantic knowledge, Deidra happened upon Illunii, a hidden elven city. Although the elves were suspicious of her at first, the intervention of lord Thanatos Barca saved Deidra's life. She learned that Thanatos was practicing necromancy in secret and shared Deidra's goals of resurrecting the Old Ways which would cleanse the taint which necromancy had gained over the years. It was during her time in Illunii that Deidra began a relationship with Thanatos who was a passionate lover. However, Deidra could never be quite sure whether their relationship hurt Thanatos's wife Nyx Barca or if she accepted it. Searching for Answers Thanatos, Deidra and the demon brothers spent time in Thanatos's manor and also got to know other people there such as the meek servant Jezebeth and Thanatos's daughter Persephone Barca who turned out to be mentally ill. This illness surfaced violently when Persephone saw Thanatos and Deidra kissing one night, and in her seemingly mad rage the elven girl murdered her mother. The incident shocked everybody in the household, and Thanatos went to great lengths to cover up the incident from the other elves. Thanatos, realizing Deidra could move freely in the outside world without elven rules binding her, asked her to find any information from ancient tomes she could find to cure Persephone's mental illness as well as a means to bring back his dead wife. Thanatos's earnestness and deep, unconditional love for his family affected Deidra who was also family-centric, so she promised to help him. Not long after Deidra and her demonic protectors had left Illunii, she became the target of various assassins and bounty hunters, some of whom were of demonic origin. Despite their best efforts to protect Deidra and find out who had sent the hunters, the demon brothers were slain one by one by these powerful mercenaries, although the mercenaries lost their lives in the process as well. As each demon brother fell, Deidra sealed his soul into an arcane sword, and their willpower and loyalty kept them as shades to carry out Deidra's will whenever she would summon them. Eventually only Philos remained of the brothers, and he used his nickname Pip when posing as a human warrior. He pretended to be weaker than he really was to fool his enemies and to protect his mistress. He also bonded more deeply with Deidra than his brothers, but whether that friendship turned into romance or not isn't clear although rumours grew about a love affair between the two. Deidra relentlessly pursued any clue she could find. No longer was she searching for knowledge for her tribe's sake; she was also doing it for Thanatos's family's sake as well as for the sake of necromancy itself. Godslayer Era Fool's Errand Deidra, going by her nickname Dei, ended up as serving as an entertainer among the hidden thieves' guild in Etheril although that was only an act to locate a powerful book of the dead from the thieves' treasury where she suspected the tome was held in. To keep up appearances, she performed to the Dresdens, a group with members from the Grand Alliance whom the thieves had recently befriended. She quickly sensed that one of the Dresdens, Razravkar Dominus, was in fact a necromancer like her. She ended her performance hastily and returned to her chambers, realizing that it was only a matter of time before the necromancer would realize who she really was so she had to flee before Razravkar would figure out her act. The escape attempt ended in a failure when both the thieves and Razravkar intercepted her. She did access the tome and managed to memorize it before reading it, but the voice of Death and a vision from the Land of the Dead incapacitated her, which allowed Razravkar and the thieves to capture her for later interrogation. At first the thieves thought she was an agent from the Crimson Coalition; she didn't answer their questions and had to experience brutal torture as a result. She was devoted to her cause, however, and was willing to die for it. While in captivity, Deidra met with Naga, a demonic snake who had infiltrated the thieves' hideout. Naga accessed Deidra's mind, drawing all the secrets she had learned from the necromantic tome, and put a magical mental switch in Deidra's mind which she could activate later once she needed Deidra to do something. Deidra was unaware of the switch being put into her mind, though, and she couldn't fathom why the demonic snake would leave her alive after she had taken all the information about the tome from her mind. Eventually Razravkar managed to make Deidra talk by mentioning that Thanatos Barca had sent him after her. Deidra respected Thanatos as a wise elf and couldn't understand why a colleague would want her head all of a sudden. After a bit of persuasion (and thanks to Naga's elaborate magical mind switch) Deidra couldn't help but answer the necromancer's questions. She did recognize that she was answering against her will, but assumed it was the necromancer's magic, not realizing Naga was actually behind her willing answers. More info later. Death Deidra prepared to plunge her Sinlarine seremonial dagger into Persephone's heart at the exact moment the ritual would reach its climax. She tried to calm Persephone down despite knowing of her madness, but the elfess only answered with hostility, which forced Deidra to use her magic to hold her down until the ritual was over. If successful, she would purge the taint of madness from Persephone's mind, but she would then have to deal with the enraged Thanatos who was under a dark spell. Just as the ritual was about to be completed, Raul distracted Deidra when her guard was down and caught her by surprise. Before she could defend herself from the thief's furious attack, Razravkar showed up as well, and Deidra realized too late all of it had been set up as Razravkar reaped her soul with his sickle. Deidra Finian died as she realized Persephone had set this all up with Jezebeth. The Sinlarine was a tragic victim of an elaborate game of deception which she had unwillingly become a part of. Deidra appeared in the world as a shade soon after her death, however. As the demons led by Jezebeth were about to triumph over the Dresdens, Deidra reassured them, explaining that the prophecy, and Chaos itself, could be used for good. She lit the light of hope into the shade of Thanatos who took her hand and accompanied her to the portal. The shades of Deidra and Thanatos sacrificed themselves to close Jezebeth's portal for good and banished Jezebeth back to the Demon Realm in the process. In her last moments Deidra had finally found the peace she'd been looking for; she had found the answer to the Riddle of Life and Death, the Old Masters' Ancient Wisdom. Legacy Although it seemed Deidra's spirit had perished for good when closing the infernal portal, she had in fact survived but was now an in-between existence between the planes with a deep link to the Land of the Dead and the Void. Deidra's and Thanatos's sacrifice had saved Illunii from demonic invasion, and the Dresdens would live to fight another day. However, the psychic bond shared by Deidra and her siblings was affected by Deidra's actions, and her clan immediately sensed her death. One of her brothers, Corwin Finian, was angered by his sister's death and swore to confront the killer someday but once he found out that Razravkar had not been responsible for the death but it had instead been his enchanted sickle, he forgave Razravkar even though it was hard for him. Razravkar later summoned Deidra's spirit to ask for guidance to locate her brother Irvin Finian who had taken Haruko Mizushima, the girl Razravkar and the Union Workers had wanted to protect from forces which would use her, somewhere. Deidra was saddened to see Razravkar and was hurt by him using triple bindings which showed a lack of trust, but she nevertheless answered the elf's queries cryptically before he released her spirit once more. Deidra's spirit made other appearances too, subtly guiding people in the Land of the Living, such as when her songs gave her old friend Beira and Arcturius a musical means to sing a song which prevented Haruko's rescue party from falling to its demise. She later guided Corwin to Axikasha Keiran who had ended up injured in the Void, and later she did the same in reverse as she guided Ax to the injured Corwin in the same location. Aliases and Nicknames ; Dei : Her nickname, used in some undercover assignments, most recently when she infiltrated the Union's base in Etheril. Also used as an affectionate nickname among her clan. ; Ghost : Deidra's other nickname when working undercover. ; Seductowench : A derogative nickname given to Deidra by Raul Emmenson during the adventures in Etheril and Illunii. Appearance She had dark hair, green eyes and sallow skin. She also had elaborate circular tattoos on her palms, and she wore dark leather and a brown beggar's robe. Personality and Traits Secretive, intelligent, stealthy, determined, somewhat melancholy. Wanted to keep her tribe's traditions alive and spread them to a new Sinlarine generation. She also respected others' privacy and always kept her word; a trait which would eventually cause her downfall because she was oathbound to not reveal Persephone's condition to the Dresdens, which eventually made the Dresdens think she was hiding something dark and treated her as a villain in the end. Powers and Abilities She's a skilled red mage, capable of handling both spells and melee weapons. She's lithe and agile, able to overwhelm stronger opponents with her hit&run tactics. She could also speak to the dead and had some necromantic powers, and she's a very good singer whose songs could melt even the toughest hearts. Relationships Corwin Finian One of Deidra's older brothers, Corwin was always close to his little sister and protected her from harm as they grew up. When Deidra began her pursuit for knowledge, she and Corwin saw each other less and less, but Corwin trusted her little sister in the hands of the demons who had become Deidra's guardians. Deidra loved all her siblings equally, reminding herself that she was doing everything for their sakes. Irvin Finian Irvin wasn't particularly happy about Deidra choosing necromancy over shamanism, but he respected her decision because he didn't want bad blood between them. He took news of Deidra's death calmly and intends to carry on his mission to honour her sacrifice. Deidra saw Irvin as a rock who would always be there for the clan when times got rough, and she always kept his teachings in mind. Katsutoshi Kobayashi Deidra didn't spend as much time with Katsutoshi as her elder siblings because she was younger but also because Katsutoshi tended to be travelling with her other siblings while she was visiting the clan's home grounds. However, she came to understand why the clan was dedicated to the kitsune and could sympathize with Katsutoshi's plight to be reunited with his mate Haruko. Katsutoshi was Deidra as a promising necromancer who would make her ancestor Arlen Finian proud. Kendra Finian Kendra and Deidra were sometimes at odds but still loved each other. It was Kendra who taught Deidra the importance of deception in their line of work and didn't mind Deidra's choice to become a necromancer. Kendra kept some of her activities secret from Deidra, however, in order not to upset her. Persephone Barca Deidra cared for Persephone's well-being because she cared for Thanatos as well. When she found out about Persephone's madness, she set out to find a cure to it. Unfortunately Persephone and her dark associates ended up manipulating Deidra for their own ends, and ultimately Deidra was set up as a red herring villain when Persephone feigned weakness to lure the Alliance into trusting her and not Deidra. Philos Deidra cared for Philos who was her guardian but also her lover. She saw demons as potential companions, and hoped that one day the world would treat demons as individuals rather than a faceless horde of monsters. Philos respected and loved Deidra with all his heart, and he was willing to die for her and her cause. Razravkar Dominus Deidra's feelings for Razravkar were mixed. At first she was hostile to him, but once Razravkar opened up, she came to understand him and his motives and actually sympathized with his losses. She often encouraged him to look at things differently and see that their profession still had a future other than working for money. Although the two warmed up to each other, their friendship came to a bitter end when Deidra had to keep secrets from him because of her oath of silence, and he came to view her with cautious trust. When it appeared that Deidra was the villain behind the web of deception, Razravkar was furious about having been betrayed and did his utmost to save Persephone from the seemingly murderous Deidra. He ended her life and realized too late that he had been duped into doing so, causing the death of a potential future friend. Thanatos Barca Rumours spread about Deidra and Thanatos being lovers, but in truth they were actually colleagues who became friends. Deidra respected Thanatos's wisdom, and Thanatos admired Deidra's spiritual views. They planned to restore the necromantic order to its glory and show the world that these dark arts weren't necessarily destructive but an important part of the world. Sadly the demons' manipulations made Thanatos and Deidra mistakenly believe each other to be villains, and their friendship ended gruesomely as both were betrayed and killed in the same evening. See also *Finian Clan *Persephone Barca *Philos *Razravkar Dominus *Thanatos Barca Category:Characters Category:Finian Clan Category:Humans Category:Libaterra Category:Third Age